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Critic Reviews

As I said before, I'm only comparing this to the original, but I think Dark Hour has some very good levels. The new textures are very good and the levels seem very well thought out and show some innovative level design. If you've mastered all the Quake levels already and are looking for a challenge, Microforum's Dark Hour may be just what you need.

The CD does offer an extensive list of worldwide Quake servers, information sites, and gameplay hints, which may alone make it worth the price. For gameplay, graphics, and action, though, I'm afraid The Dark Hour doesn't live up to the excitement promised in its mission briefing.

If you feel that you must get Dark Hour (don't do it), get it for the information and not for the levels. If you're getting this add-on for the levels, then you'll be horrified and may enter a catatonic state of shock because of how bad the levels really are. But if you need help with Quake or just some useful information, then you could probably find it on a website and avoid wasting any of your hard earned dollars.

In a game add-on, I want new weapons, monsters, traps, items, tricks, and generally something newer and better than the original. If not, I at least would like to see a lot of levels to choose from (the old quantity over quality argument). This game has neither. With fewer than 20 levels and nothing new in the way of monsters, weapons, or any other surprises, it simply falls flat on its face. The most redeeming factor about this product is the graphics of a couple of the levels, which do break the "grey-brown-green" dull tones of the original Quake. However, the graphics really aren't all that great, and there aren't that many new ones.

This wouldn't be too much to bear if the levels were any cop. But they're not. The new textures are really bad - horribly garish and badly-drawn in equal measures. The levels are often over-packed with monsters, poorly paced, and vomit-inducingly designed. There are a couple of nice deathmatch playing fields on there - notably arenam - but there are a few nice deathmatch levels on the Internet and this month's coverdisk. To add insult to injury, MicroForum have padded out the cd with a list of cool Quake Web and clan sites. Woo. A text file.